Something I’ve always wondered. The most famous example in media is Apu from the Simpsons who is Indian.
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I wonder if some of it may be that some got into it a while ago, and that they told their relatives about it back home who started saving with the plan of doing it themselves, and now there’s a network of people from within that culture helping them to get off the ground with owning gas stations and convenience stores.
Similar situations may have evolved with Vietnamese people and nail salons, Chinese people and dry cleaners (as well as Chinese restaurants obviously), or Russians/Eastern Europeans in trucking/transport.
To my understanding, things like gas stations, convenience stores, and hotel/motels were relatively affordable investments that could be purchased and ran by one person/one family.
The thing with a lot of eastern immigrants to the USA is they’re typically from a more middle class/wealthier background in their home country, but move for opportunity. But, if they have education and certifications in their home countries, those might not be recognized by the USA or state governments, so they would have to start school over again.
If you’re a pharmacist in Pakistan, you’re not gonna get a license to be a pharmacist in the USA without some extra schooling. So you could do that, or you could save up some money and buy a business that doesn’t take special restrictive education/licenses.
I’m assuming you’re American. To be very precise, it’s not *most* gas station employees — about 65% of gas station employees are white, according to Census Bureau data. Rather, what you mean is that a *disproportionate number* of gas station employees & owners are Middle Eastern. While I’m at it, there is *also* a disproportionate number of South Asians who are gas station & owners employees. There are a couple of things going on. One, all else being equal, immigrants tend to cluster in careers where you don’t need to be an expert in the subtleties of American culture. The hard work at a gas station is maintaining the equipment and working with your supplier; it’s not salesmanship.
The other thing, though, is that the US government specifically encourages this sort of thing. If you have money, skills, and work ethic, but zero connections in the USA, then one of the best ways to be allowed to immigrate to the USA is to get an EB-5 Visa. Long story short, if you can set up a business that invests at least $1 million in capital costs in the USA, then you are allowed to move to the USA to run that business and start the process towards full citizenship. And what’s a business that costs about $1 million to set up, but not much more than that? A gas station.
My understanding is owning your own business or a having a family business in general or just as a financial foothold is really ingrained in the middle-east culture. I’m not sure about requirements for gas stations specifically but opening up some kind of mercantile shop with gas is pretty much a guaranteed business and has a low bar for point of entry
The most famous example of a Middle or Near Eastern gas station worker/owner is…an Indian. Which is in Southern Asia?
I’m not sure. But the gal that works at the 7/11 in my neighborhood has the biggest rap video booty you’ve ever seen. It’s totally wild to see someone like that selling Copenhagen. Bonkers.
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